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Royal Gorge Bridge & Park back to life

By Carie Canterbury

canterburyc@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
02/28/2014 09:25:46 PM MST

Crews work to hydroax the burned trees Thursday at the Royal Gorge Park. The hydroaxes shred the trees into mulch, which shoots out and is spread on top of the native grass and wild flower seed that was dropped by helicopter earlier this month. Some trees will remain for wildlife and for vertical landscape. CR 3A will be closed Saturday from the former Buckskin Joe property to the bridge while crews hydroax trees along the highway. (Carie Canterbury / Daily Record)

Healing, repair, mitigation and hope are beginning to take form at the Royal Gorge Park.

About 2,200 acres of city property burned during the June 2013 Royal Gorge Fire. Crews have begun to work on an Emergency Watershed Protection Program that includes about 850 acres that are watershed drainage areas that impact the Arkansas River.

Cañon City Water Superintendent Bob Hartzman said there is one drainage on the north side of the park and two drainages on the south side.

"I was amazed at the sediment plume that was already down in the river (in August)," he said. "That's what the whole purpose of this work is for, is to prevent that from continuing to happen.

"If left unchecked, it's going to continue to have erosion until Mother Nature could recover the area; we're just trying to help out a little bit."

The work is important not only to the city as a drinking water supplier but to those who irrigate, as well, Hartzman said.

Crews aerially dropped about 25,000 pounds of native grass and wild flower seed Feb. 11 over that portion of the burn area. Four hydroax machines now are working to mulch the burned trees on the less sloping areas within the burn to provide some extra protection from erosion and to help protect the seeded areas.

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"The tires and the weight of the (hydroax) machines help press the seed into the ground and leave small depressions where the cleats of the chains are," said Rick Romano, district conservationinst for the Natural Resources Conservation Services. "It really pushes the seed down into the ground and makes really good seed-to-soil contact."

Hydroaxing is expected to last about 60 days; the phases on the north side of the bridge are expected to be completed by March 15 when the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park plans to open for weekend guided tours; work then will continue on the south side until it's completed.

Plans are to treat some of the steeper areas within the burn using hand crews, and then the final step will be to plant at least 10,000 seedlings in April or May on about 100 acres to begin to re-establish the pinyon and juniper forest.

Hartzman said it could take about 100 years before it's fully re-established. About five to 10 trees per acre will be left for wildlife and for vertical landscape.

The work is paid for by a $485,200 grant through the Colorado Water Conservation Board and a $385,000 EWP grant through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Arkansas River Outfitters Association also contributed $500 to the project and the Board of Water Works Pueblo gave $5,000. Hydroaxing services are provided by West Range Reclamation of Hotchkiss, with assistance from Rue Logging of South Fork.

Burned trees at the Royal Gorge Park are hydroaxed down to the stump; the shredded mulch is spread on top of the native grass and wild flower seed that was dropped by helicopter earlier this month. (Carie Canterbury / Daily Record)

Romano and his team are providing technical assistance on the project, and the NRCS was part of the original resource team that created the plan that is underway. Hartzman and Romano also have worked alongside City Parks Director Rex Brady.

Cañon City Water Superintendent Bob Hartzman holds a large piece of mulch created by crews hydroaxing most of the burned trees down to the stump. (Carie Canterbury / Daily Record)

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